Seals provided between turbine shroud segments and outer supporting housings in gas turbine engines are well-known. Such seals reduce gas flow between inner cooling air cavities, defined within the turbine shroud segments, and the main engine hot gas path defined radially within the turbine shroud segments. In many engine designs, relatively cool secondary air flow is fed from the compressor to the cooling cavities defined within the turbine shroud segments to provide cooling thereof. In order to prevent leakage of this cooling air into the main gas path, seals are preferably provided between the upstream and downstream edges of the turbine shroud segments and the outer supporting shroud housing.
In order to achieve a tight clearance gap between the turbine blade tips and the surrounding shroud segments, it is common to grind the shroud segments, once assembled, until the desired tip clearance is achieved. Most known turbine shroud segment seals, however, require a special fixture in order to load the segments radially inward during this grinding operation in order to prevent the grinding wheel from pushing the shroud segments outward as a result of deflections in the shroud seals. This results in increased and unacceptable tolerances between the turbine blade tips and the surrounding turbine shroud segments.
A simplified turbine shroud seal which is economical to manufacture and which obviates the need for special retaining fixtures of the shroud segment during assembly grinding operations is accordingly desired.